You’ve more than likely heard about coconut oil and its benefits in the news recently. Over the last few years, coconut oil and its benefits, have been quickly on the rise for those of us trying to live a clean, healthier lifestyle.
There are thousands of studies providing facts that coconut oil is one of the healthiest foods on the planet, and while this is true, there are more benefits to coconut oil than people really realize. Coconut contains healthy fats called medium-chain fatty acids, which include caprylic acid, lauric acid, and capric acid… which are all healthy fatty acids.
While most of our diets typically contain fats that take a while to digest, the medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil are processed through a 3-step system before converting into the energy that out body needs, while most fatty acids go through a 26-step process!
In addition to getting our bodies energized faster, the medium-chain fatty acids that are found in coconut oil also have these benefits:
- Easier to digest than regular fatty acids.
- Not stored as fat.
- The liver processes these acids, converting them immediately into energy.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Here are 20 other reasons that you should incorporate coconut oil into your daily life.
20 Benefits of Coconut Oil
According to medical studies, coconut oil can help the body in the following ways.
1. Natural treatment for Alzheimer’s
While there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, we do know that the brain of an Alzheimer’s patient no longer has the ability to create its own insulin. According to research, the brain creates insulin to process glucose and provide energy to brain cells.
Since Alzheimer’s patients cannot produce insulin, the use of coconut oil could be an alternate source of energy to help increase brain function. The digestion of medium-chain fatty acids by the liver causes ketones, which is energy easily accessible to the brain, and all without the need of insulin.
2. Can Help Prevent Heart Disease and High Blood Pressure
Since coconut oil has a high content of natural saturated fats, this increases healthy cholesterol (HDL) in the body, and also helps convert bad cholesterol into the good kind! When you use coconut oil, and increase HDLs in the body, you can assist your body in lowering your risk of heart disease and high blood pressure!
3. Clears up UTI and Kidney Infections
Did you know that coconut oil has been known to heal urinary tract and kidney infections? If you have ever had a UTI, the idea of prevention is an AMAZING thing! We again turn back to the medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) in the oil. This time, the acids work as a natural antibiotic. They disrupt the lipid coating on the bacteria causing the infection, which effectively kills the bacteria, cleaning up the infection!
Coconut water can also help clearing up kidney stones… it really is a superfood!
4. Reduce Arthritis and Inflammation
Coconut oil has high levels of antioxidants, which can assist in healing arthritis and inflammation (even more effectively than some medications!).
5. Used to Treat and Prevent Cancer
By no means is coconut oil a cure for cancer. However, there are two different things in coconut oil that make it a great option to help in the fight of cancer. The ketones produced when the body digests coconut oil is not accessible to tumors. Since tumors are dependent on glucose, there is an idea that a ketogenic diet can assist cancer suffers in their recovery.
The other quality of coconut oil comes from the MCFA in coconut oil and their digestion of lipid walls. These acids also can kill certain kinds of bacteria that have been known to increase the risk of different cancers.
6. Boost that Immune System!
Many illnesses today are caused by the growth of bad bacteria, funguses, parasites, and viruses in the body. With the use of coconut oil, we increase the lauric acid in our bodies, which creates an environment that is unattractive to viruses.
Try using coconut oil when you’re fighting off a virus, and see how this helps your body heal!
7. Help Improve Memory and Brain Function
There have been studies published that showcase the effects of the MCFA’s that are found in coconut oil, and how they improve the memory of older subjects.
The other impressive thing about these studies is that each test subject, regardless of age, have improvement in their memory after taking coconut oils. Again, we return to the ease of absorption and the energy accessed without the use of insulin, which causes the brain to process energy quickly.
8. Endurance and Energy Improvement
We’ve already covered the fact that coconut oil is easy to digest, but that’s not where the benefits for increased energy end. Coconut oil kickstarts your metabolism, and provides longer sustained energy. When you use coconut oil, all of the benefits of the medium-chain fatty acids are sent directly to the liver, where they are converted to energy!
Many athletes use coconut oil as their choice of fuel for training. By mixing coconut oil, raw honey, and chia seeds, you are boosting your energy levels and giving your body the necessary fuel to keep moving through rigorous activity!
9. Coconut Oil is Good for your Stomach
Not just good for your stomach, coconut oil improves digestion through the absorbing of vitamins, calcium, and magnesium.
If you consume omega-3 fatty acids at the same time as coconut oil, the coconut oil will help them be twice as effective, and digested quickly into the body.
Coconut oil also helps the gut by destroying bad bacteria and candida. Candida decreases stomach acid, and helps prevent inflammation and poor digestion.
10. Helps your Gallbladder and Pancreas
There really isn’t a part of the body that coconut oil can’t help! You guessed it – the MCFA in coconut oil are the reason it helps out your gallbladder and pancreas. The MCFAs do not need the pancreas to break down in the system, which eases the strain of the pancreas overall.
Since the fat is so easily digested, it also improves symptoms of gallbladder disease.
11. Helps the Skin
If you suffer from eczema, dermatitis, psoriasis, dandruff, or get a nasty burn, coconut oil can help with that! Using the oil as a moisturizer, face cleaner, or sun screen is fantastic, but it can also help in the treatment of these skin conditions.
The oils found in coconut oil (caprylic and lauric to be specific) reduce inflammation internally and externally, and the moisture is amazing for dry skin.
The antioxidants found in coconut oil also make it ideal for healing the skin when presented with different skin disorders. It’s natural and gentle, which makes it a great option for those with sensitive skin.
12. Support Oral Hygiene
Oil pulling with coconut oil has been all the rage in the recent health trends, and for good reason. It has actually been around for centuries as a way to cleanse and heal the mouth. This is done by swishing the oil around your mouth (do not swallow it!), and as you do so, it pulls the bacteria from between the teeth and reduces your risk of periodontal disease.
The reason you don’t swallow the oil while pulling, is simple – you don’t want to swallow the toxins and bacteria the oil is capturing!
13. Prevents Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis has two big factors - oxidative stress and free radicals. The high levels of antioxidants help fight free radicals and because of this, coconut oil has been one of the leading natural treatments for osteoporosis.
Coconut oil also increases calcium absorption, which helps increase bone volume and structure, and decreases bone loss due to osteoporosis!
14. Helps with Type II Diabetes
Since the medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil help insulin in the body in many different ways, coconut oil is a great way to assist in treatment of type II diabetes. This diabetes type makes a person insulin resistant, which means the pancreas has to produce more insulin, which eventually, creates too much insulin for the body. In simplest of terms, too much insulin is what causes type II diabetes.
The MCFAs in coconut oil help keep the balance in the insulin in the body, and create a healthy process for digestion. This removes strain from the pancreas, and provides more energy to the body that isn’t dependent on glucose.
15. Weight Loss
Through the energy that’s created by coconut oil, fat burning is increased in the body. Coconut oil also helps in decreasing appetite, which helps in losing belly fat!
16. Gain muscle
The medium-chain fatty acids don’t just help with burning fat, they build muscle, too! That’s why you’ll notice the MCFAs found in protein shakes or different muscle building supplement drinks.
While the acids from the coconut oil are found in supplements, most of the time they are processed MCFAs… when you use coconut oil, you are getting the MCFAs directly from the source, and a more potent dose!
17. Candida and Yeast Infections
The capric and lauric acid found in coconut oil are an effective treatment for candida albicans and yeast infections, for those looking for a natural way to treat these ailments.
Talk to your doctor about this form of treatment if you’re interested.
18. Uses for Anti-Aging
We return to the antioxidants that coconut oil possesses. Let’s talk about aging. No one likes it, and no one likes the toll aging takes on the body. Enter coconut oil and how it can support detoxification due to its working with the liver! If you utilize coconut oil regularly you will improve antioxidant levels, which can slow aging by lowering stress on the liver and helps with oxidative stress.
You can also use the oil for a smoothing affect.
19. Hair Care
We already covered how great coconut oil is for dry skin. This applies to your scalp as well. Use coconut oil to treat dandruff, or just use coconut oil as a conditioner for a moisturizing hair treatment!
Since coconut oil is all natural, the benefits are fantastic.
20. Balancing hormones
Naturally help balance your hormones by using coconut oil. The benefits can include the saturated fats that are found in coconut oil, since studies have shown that consuming this is a great supplement for women that are going through menopause. Coconut oil is also thought to have positive effects on estrogen levels!
Conclusion
Remember – before you try any of these methods do your research and consult a doctor to ensure that adding coconut oil to your daily routine will not interfere with any other treatments you may be currently receiving.
These are just a few of the many benefits that people have experienced during their use of coconut oil. This list is a great starting point for those looking for natural ways to increase your daily health, and to possibly help prevent some serious ailments.
Coconut oil is easily accessible to the masses. It can be found in any grocery store or health food emporium, not to mention at different vitamin and supplement shops around the world as well. After you’ve researched, and gotten cleared from your doctor to begin using coconut oil, decide which type is best for your needs and the uses you will require it to perform.
With all of the health benefits that come with using coconut oil, it is no wonder that the number of people adding it to their everyday health routine has increased over the years. As more and more studies are released with the benefits of using coconut oil, this number is going to continue to climb. Visit Earthy Living for more information on how to incorporate coconut oil into your health regime, and how it can be beneficial to your body and mind!